News Article

Learning to make pictures move


6/4/2008 2:23:37 PM


Film and Video Production students at College of the North Atlantic prepare for a scene of their upcoming short tentatively titled Cabin Movie.

By Sabrina Skinner
The Georgian

The assistant director calls for quiet on the set as several actors shuffle into place.

A cameraman stands on a crate, while another crew member on a box one step higher holds up a panel so the right amount of light catches each actor''''s face.

To the side, a boom operator holds an overhead microphone up high, preparing to catch each whisper of dialogue.

It might be the set of any television program or film, being filmed anywhere, but it's the inside of a Sonoco warehouse in Stephenville on a Sunday afternoon. And for ten College of the North Atlantic students, it's week four of six weeks of teamwork and intense learning.

The short film, being made under the working title Cabin Movie, is an intersession practical for Film and Video Production students at College of the North Atlantic.

The program, now in its second year, is the only post-secondary program for film and video in the province. Film and Video Production instructor Marty Benoit, who hails from the Bay St. George area, brings his experience working in the St. John''''s and Toronto film industries to the program.

"It's a great opportunity to be in my hometown and working and training people for an industry that I sincerely love," he says.

Mr. Benoit, along with co-instructor Ben Smith, are working overtime to see the Cabin Movie project come to fruition. Making a film, regardless of length, is a big process.

"It's written and developed by the students. So they go through the three stages ... they go through pre-production - writing, planning, designing; and then they go through shooting it and then post-production, putting it together," Mr. Benoit explains.

Each student will have a chance to change up their role during the shoot so their instructors may evaluate their work process in each role.

Marc Coombs, in his fourth role, as director, spends much of his time overseeing the monitors for possible on screen flaws. Mr. Coombs, a first-year student from Grand Falls - Windsor, says he loves movies and hopes to get a job in his field once finished the program. He explains a little of the story:

"Our film is about four college students who meet at a cabin to celebrate their graduation from college students ... they're greeted by an old woodsman who tells them a story about a massacre that happens in the cabin."

Scary? Not according to Mr. Coombs.

"It's comedic," he says.

Working together

The film is a project with teamwork in mind. Each student presented a pitch, or story idea, to the group. Once an idea was selected, the brainstorming started and the story began to take shape.

"We had a few versions of the script. By the end of it we were able to put a lot of our ideas together and come up with something I think is pretty good," says Mr. Coombs.

Then came the set.

"We had the rough set constructed by the college maintenance department," says Mr. Benoit. "But the students put it together and painted it and did all the decorating, so they just did the rough carpentry for us."

Once the crew finish shooting their interior shots, they''''ll move to Barachois Brook, where Mr. Benoit's sister has donated her own cabin for the students to shoot their exterior shots.

"This [the Sonoco set] is supposed to replicate the cabin that's actually in there," he says. "So about two days of shooting exteriors and then about two weeks of post-production, editing."

Mr. Benoit says he suspects the film will be posted to YouTube when complete. The students will also have a more formal public showing of it at the College''''s SNAPP Festival in the Fall.

"This practical is really where we're starting to see the students are really learning and engaged in the process and really enjoying it," says Mr. Benoit.

"And also developing the skills to go on and work in the industry."

Printed with permission from The Georgian